Hospitals in crisis

[huntervinni]

Oh the quality of care in the USA is WAY better than in Canada. The issue is affordability.
And let's talk the truth about that ... the cost of hospitalization in the USA is RIDICULOUS!
Like insanely ridiculous!

My son (who is a US citizen) cut his foot on a sea shell at the beach (7 years old at the time) ... we took him
to hospital in Florida. We were in and out in under 45 minutes. He needed 2 stitches.

$6000 bill.

I have insurance. My insurance company negotiated them down to $2500 I think, which is still high, but a lot more
reasonable.

Now isn't that gouging of the little guy? What if I didn't have an insurance company to fight for me ... would I have
been stuck with an added $3500 charge?

You live in a country that makes families broke if anyone in the household is fighting a major health problem.

So sure ... you can get the best if you're prepared to pay like 3x or more on the price.

Heck ... a Ferrari is way better than the car I drive ... if I want to spend that kind of money.

Let's talk about VALUE ... that's where the discussion should be had.

If the same were to happen to someone who took a vacation to Canada and they didn't have insurance before arriving here what do you think the bill would be for an emergency hospital visit? I can tell you from experience that its not cheap. Canada/USA or any other country for that matter if you don't have insurance then the price is anything the providers want it to be.....

[huntervinni]

I've seen all I need to see about how much better the American system is than the Canadian. Years ago,my BIL had an serious car collision and was seriously injured. He was on his way home from work when hit head on by a drunk on US 219 south of Buffalo. The drunk later died of injuries. Even though he was covered by work place insurance,after two surgeries and extended care and rehab,the BIL was still left with a medical bill of $200K that their insurance didn't cover. Being retirees on a fixed income,they sold their home to the kids to raise enough money to cover the bill. That way,at least,they still had a place to live. Fast forward 10 years,my BIL passed away flat broke. My SIL is living with the kids on a US social security pension of $500 a month. I'll take our system any day even though in the near future we may need to move to a public/private partnership to avoid a total collapse. Even that's better than a total private US system.

Sad news Trimmer for sure but not sure as to why his work place insurance didn't cover his bills? Something doesn't seem right with that statement as it was a car accident of which he was not at fault for? Did his work place insurance not have Hospital benefits maybe?.....

[MikePal]

Canada/USA or any other country for that matter if you don't have insurance then the price is anything the providers want it to be.....

My Uncle up from N.Carolina...had to go the ER here to get a boil lanced on his butt....less than an hr, an $850 bill before he could leave!!

[Species8472]

This is a terrible state of affairs, Bancroft is now a big retirement town and they need a big expansion of services.

Easiest solution is to expand old and build new cemeteries - problem solved.

My latest and only experience with our system in 40+ years:

- Injured my leg on Oct 01, 2021
- waited until Oct 11th to see my family doc - who had never met me before - haha
- he sent me for blood work and x-rays same day basically no wait
- based on x-rays he sent me for 2 stage gallium bone scan and CT scan. Both completed in less than 5 days (Gallium test take 48 hours minimum in the first place due to the wait associated with the second set of images).
- based on CT scan aspiration of synovial fluid from knee and marrow from tibia completed same day as CT Scan. That took an extra 4 hours
- all that resulted in MRI ordered - 5 days later MRI completed and based on that appointments made and kept with 3 different specialists and follow up appointments with all 3 in the next week.

All free and for something i considered non-urgent and occurring during all the extra hassle of COVID. I can't complain. After 40+ years of no experience with a doctor i was quite impressed. Further they set up a my chart account and i can access all the records right down to clinical notes. Can look my diagnostic images, lab data, etc all online for free - pretty cool actually. Well when i say for free that should be taken with a grain of salt - had to pay for parking and pay tax for the last 42 years to make it happen.
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[JoePa]

I often wonder what is going on - whenever I have some medical procedure done I eventually get a letter outlining the medial costs that were involved - for instance it shows what the hospital or physician charged - it then shows the amount that they were willing to take - which is often considerable lower - then it shows what the insurance paid - I often wonder why they charge so much more than what they settle for - I'm thinking that the hospital uses the amount charged as their cost and any difference between what they settled. for and what they charged is written off on their tax returns -

I have medicare and a supplemental insurance that is paid for by the place I retired from and partly by me - my medical expenses are always fully paid for by these plans -

[Gilroy]

Easiest solution is to expand old and build new cemeteries - problem solved.

My latest and only experience with our system in 40+ years:

- Injured my leg on Oct 01, 2021
- waited until Oct 11th to see my family doc - who had never met me before - haha
- he sent me for blood work and x-rays same day basically no wait
- based on x-rays he sent me for 2 stage gallium bone scan and CT scan. Both completed in less than 5 days (Gallium test take 48 hours minimum in the first place due to the wait associated with the second set of images).
- based on CT scan aspiration of synovial fluid from knee and marrow from tibia completed same day as CT Scan. That took an extra 4 hours
- all that resulted in MRI ordered - 5 days later MRI completed and based on that appointments made and kept with 3 different specialists and follow up appointments with all 3 in the next week.

All free and for something i considered non-urgent and occurring during all the extra hassle of COVID. I can't complain. After 40+ years of no experience with a doctor i was quite impressed. Further they set up a my chart account and i can access all the records right down to clinical notes. Can look my diagnostic images, lab data, etc all online for free - pretty cool actually. Well when i say for free that should be taken with a grain of salt - had to pay for parking and pay tax for the last 42 years to make it happen.
-

Well my old son we all basically pay taxes and that is what makes the social safety net work, just like insurance.

[Species8472]

Well my old son we all basically pay taxes and that is what makes the social safety net work, just like insurance.

Not actually complaining about tax money spent on healthcare. My experience although anecdotal suggests the system works pretty darn well - at least for me.

[Gilroy]

Not actually complaining about tax money spent on healthcare. My experience although anecdotal suggests the system works pretty darn well - at least for me.

Worked well for me to, no real big problems up until I was 48 years old and then bingo your numbers up. I would hate to have been in the USA with the amount and cost of my treatment over the next 5 years after.

[SongDog]

Hospital being built in Markdale right now.

Don't worry it will be years away as it's going to be some fancy building, All exposed wood trusses with iron columns. Another government job where no expense spared, Will be nice when it's done though, We sure need it up in this area.

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[trimmer21]

Sad news Trimmer for sure but not sure as to why his work place insurance didn't cover his bills? Something doesn't seem right with that statement as it was a car accident of which he was not at fault for? Did his work place insurance not have Hospital benefits maybe?.....

From what I understood how the system worked,most employer group plans have limited coverage up to certain maximums. Once that's reached,the patient is responsible for the balance. The insurance company also gets to dictate which treatments the patient can recieve under the particular plan they have. That effectively gives some corporate bureaucrat the power of who gets what treatment and who doesn't giving them,literally,the power of who lives and who dies. Since my BIL passed,garbage like that is what drove ObamaCare. Even with private health coverage,everything is far from sweetness and light in the US health system, JoePa is eminently more qualified to comment further on that.